Strand material storage device



-Aug.15, 1950 Y E. w. ERTNER 2,518,534

STRAND MATERIAL STORAGE DEVICE Filed March 5, 1948 i4 'rromvfr Patented Aug. 15, w 1950 "151mm mmim STQMQEDEYJQE,

Edward .W- Ei er, B 1 1-, ,assi

or to West- 0% a Wire amwih' *memne showing" "the w r sisqr-iflg devicg'e embedying'the" features nf-*this iri ventio'n aripiie'd thereto; Fig, 2 is an eni-a ged flfrqnt eleyational ie-wpf ap' tibn dfFig 1; 3

'Fig ."3 is' a sideleyationalview cf Fig. '-2 3S viewed idoking at the ri'ghtside theredf ahd Figgi is '9; hbriz'oxiimlglet'atil sedjsionlV iiaW tahn o the line a+l emigre Referiing to =the" drawing deteiL andpay ticularly to Fig il fa 'fm'meworkflhown r I mentarily, is indicated generally'atm for porbin'g the -varieuselements of a wire drawing lfi'a'el'xineutojiiihibh the wire storage device, int-- dicated in general at J, embodying the features of-"t'his ipvenfionis-shewn applied. "A" compare mm; 4-2 Within the" framewqifk 1Q is provide with an (513v f g? 'lf3- i iitsfientfv'vail, "Whieh is 2 al ie to be iqsed .b q n hpwm i m e im n xe and into the comps} H V around the smallest diameter of the pper Ii ht the various die-ineterofealqh'df theapst M, dies andothr em emem the wii'e d apparatus is directifto a take-up "reeshowiifi A more" detailed' diselosiiie "and understandings?the preseiit' ihveritioh."-

ment of the sheaves 31, which are identical one with the other, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, so that the corresponding grooves 38 of the sheaves are suitably out of alignment. Welded to the lower end of the support member 3! is a filler block 42, which is fitted between the spaced arms thereof and abuts the web portion. Formed in the web portion and the block 42 and extending longitudinally of the support member 3! is an open slot 44 for receiving a horizontally arranged pin 45 fixed at opposite ends to parallel bifurcations 46 of a bracket 41 fixed to the horizontal member 25 of the framework Hi, the spacing between the bifurcations being such that the support member may be freely received therebetween.

In line with the bracket 41 and welded to the lower surface of the bottom wall 3!] of the compartment I2 is a U-shaped member :8 having parallel arms 5| spaced; apart similar to the bifurcations 46 of the bracket 41 for freely receiving the support member 3! therebetween. Welded to the outer surfaces of the arms 5| of the member 48 is a pair of spring clips 52 having their outer end portions bent toward each other and then at right angles outwardly, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Welded to the upper end of the support member 3i and arranged in a manner similar to that of the block 42 at the lower end thereof is a filler block 53. It will be apparent that when the slotted end of the support member 31 is aligned with the bifurcations 4d of the bracket 41 while held at an angle to the left of its position shown in Fig. 3, and is then thrust downward, the pin 45 will be received in the slot 44. Thereafter, upon rocking the support member 3| about the pin 45 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 3), the upper end thereof will engage the yieldable ends of the clips 52 and in a continuing movement will spring the clips apart to permit the support member to move into positionbetween the arms 5| of the member 48, whereupon the clips spring back into their normal positions. Thus the wire storage device II will be releasably held in its operative position, as shown in the drawings. To readily remove the device l I from its supporting pin 45 and spring clips 52, the manipulating movements described above in mounting it in operative position are reversed.

} In the use of the wire storage device I l, mount ed as described above, on a wire drawing machine of the general type described, the wire is, after being guided from the supply reel i8 and through the aperture 28 in the horizontal member 25, is directed vertically upwards first to the extreme left hand groove 38 of the upper sheave 31 and looped thereon and thence downwards to the extreme left hand groove 38 of the lower sheave 3i and looped thereunder. From the last-mentioned groove 38 of the lower sheave 31 the wire 19 is directed to the groove 38 of the upper-sheave 31 adjacent the previous groove thereof over which the wire was first looped, looped thereover, and from thence the wire is directed to the groove 38 of the lower sheave 31 adjacent the previous groove thereof under which the wire was looped and in a similar manner the wire is looped over and under successive grooves 38 of the upper and; From the extreme right hand 4 as well as to the wiping die 26 and the sealing device 29, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, results in the wire IS, in traveling from the guide or wiping die 26 to the extreme left hand groove 38 of the upper sheave 37, to move past the lower sheave 31 without ngaging the same and also in traveling from the extreme right hand groove of the lower sheave to the sealing die 29 to move past the upper sheave without engaging the same. Thus the wire I9 is not subjected to deleterious friction in traveling to the upper sheave 31 from the wiping die 25, nor in traveling from the lower sheave 31 to the sealing die 29.

By looping the'wire [9 back and forth between the two freely rotatable sheaves 31, it will be apparent that a considerable length of wire is stored on the device I l and it will be realized that I the amount of wire stored will depend on the diameter of the sheaves and the number of grooves therein. In the operation of the wire drawing machine, the wire i9 is drawn from the supply reel [8 by the capstans H and successively over and under the two sheaves 3? in the form of a plurality of loops to constantly provide an everchanging leng h of wire stored on the device l I.

In the event that the wire is breaks between the storage device H and the supply reel it, the machine is automatically stopped by the opening of a control circuit, usually embodied in a wire drawing machine of the general type described, which circuit includes the wire l9',,ior the motors driving the capstans H and the takeup reel. Also, when the reel I8 becomes empty, the machine is stopped in a similar manner. In machines of this type, drawing wire at high speed and not equipped with the wire storage device H, the trailing end of the broken or depleted wire l9 would in an instant be drawn into the comparta merit I2 and off some of thecapstan diameters and through some of the drawing dies by the time the machine comes to a complete stop. This would result in the operator having to restring the machine back to the takeup reel.

In the case of a machine equipped with the wire storage device Ii and the wire l9 breaks or is depleted, a sufficient length'of wirewill still be stored on the device so that the trailing end of the broken or depleted wire would still be looped on the device'whe n the machine comes to a complete stop and thus the handling and joining together of the ends of the broken wires or of the joining ofthe trailing end of the wire to the outer end of the wire on a full suppl reel would be greatly facilitated and with no necessity of restringing the machine. This joining of the wire ends may be further facilitated at times by removing the device from the machine and this, it

is apparent, is easily effected due to the means employed for releasably retaining the device in:

operative position on the machine.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will em-- body the principles of' the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a wire drawing machine of a unitary device for storing a looped length of a wire traveling to a capstan of a wire drawing machine from a wire supply source comprising a vertical support located below the capstan, a pair of multiple grooved wheels journalled on said support on laterally displaced axes over and between which the traveling wire engageable in the grooves is looped, the grooves on one wheel being axially displaced from corresponding grooves on the second wheel, means on the machine for detachably and pivotally engaging the lower end of said support, and resilient means on the machine for holding the upper end of the support, said pivotally engaging means and resilient means being efiective to retain the device in operative position.

2. The combination with a wire drawing machine of a unitary device for storing a multiple looped constant length of a wire traveling to a capstan of the machine from a wire supply source located below the capstan comprising a vertically arranged supporting member having a lower forked end, a pair of multiple grooved wheels journalled horizontally on the supporting member i on laterally displaced axes over and between which the traveling wire engaged in the grooves is looped, the grooves on one wheel being axially displaced from corresponding grooves on the second wheel, an element on the machine engageable in the forked end of the supportin member, and resilient means on the machine for grasping the upper end of the supporting member, said element and resilient means being effective to retain the device in operative position.

EDWARD W. ERTNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,656,394 Sasgen Jan. 17, 1928 1,849,983 Junkers Mar, 15, 1932 1,869,274 Phillips July 26, 1932 1,960,743 Junkers May 29, 1934 2,360,741 Symmes Oct. 17, 1944 

